Eli Drinkwitz on SEC expansion: ‘It brings out the best in everybody’

One of the biggest topics of conversation coming into the SEC in the 2024 campaign is the addition of Oklahoma and Texas, two of the nation’s premiere college football brands. It’ll be the first season the Sooners and Longhorns strap it up in their new conference this fall. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz is not scared of the upgrade in competition, and this week on the Jim Rome Show, he told him that it’ll bring out the best in everybody in the conference.

“I mean you’re just adding two extremely difficult games to the schedule and to the competition. Which I think is a good thing. It’ll be interesting to see what their learning curve is and what our learning curve is in bringing those schools in here. You know, I think that some people think that they’re gonna struggle coming into the SEC,” Drinkwitz began.

“Missouri firsthand knows. I mean, their first two seasons in the SEC, won the SEC East. So, they’re very good, very capable, very talented. Both of those schools have recruited at an elite level. Specifically at the football level. So, I know this. We all have our hands full when you look at our schedules,” Drinkwitz continued.

“And I know they’re well coached and have a lot of talent….It ain’t quite the jungle but it is a hell of a fight each week in the SEC,” the Tigers head coach noted.

Texas seems to have a more stacked roster coming into the 2024 campaign, but On3’s Andy Staples and The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman both dropped their national championship contenders. And the Sooners are in that mix.

Oklahoma will have to hope Jackson Arnold makes quite a leap of improvement this year. A former five-star prospect in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Rankings, Arnold showed flashes of brilliance his freshman year, but he also showed plenty of room for improvement. He’ll have to play behind an offensive line unit which features four new offensive linemen, and SMU transfer Brandon Hickman.

Veteran receivers such as Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony, and Nic Anderson all return for the Sooners and should be reliable targets for Arnold in the passing game. Jayden Gibson is a rising star at receiver and has a bright future ahead. Deion Burks shined in the spring game for the Sooners and big things are expected from him this fall. He was named preseason second team All-SEC by Athlon Sports.

For Texas, Heisman Trophy candidate Quinn Ewers returns fresh off a year in which he led the Longhorns all the way to the College Football Playoff Semifinals. Texas also returns four returning starters on their offensive line, including All-Big 12 left tackle Kelvin Banks, Jr. The Longhorns also have some speedy and explosive backs coming back. Jaydon Blue averaged 6.1 yards per carry in 2023 and sophomore CJ Baxter is back, after he averaged 4.8 yards per carry in 2023.

Texas might have some trouble with their defense ranking quite as high as they did nationally in 2023 against the run (No. 3 in the nation), but they still return plenty of talent. Anthony Hill, Jr. was a freshman All-American at linebacker who is expected to move from weakside to middle linebacker. And they’ve got plenty of help coming via the transfer portal. Edge rusher Trey Moore had 14 sacks last year for the UTSA Roadrunners. He figures to be a force yet again this fall.

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